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Listening

BBC Learning English (Watch and Listen)
Watch and listen to TV and radio programmes

British Council LearnEnglish in Listening
Listen to stories, articles and poems, all with audio scripts

Listening tips

Listen to the radio news or watch a television news programme at the same time every day. How many stories are there? Note down what each story is about (think: when, where, who, what).

If you can, record the programme and listen to/watch it again to check details from the first time. You cannot do this in “real life” but it is very useful practice and it means you find out what you got right the first time and this will boost your confidence.

Alternatively, record a news programme without listening to/watching it. Then play only the headlines. Stop the tape and predict what the stories will be about. Then listen to check your predictions. Use one of the stories as a dictation text. Listen several times and write down what you hear.

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昨天跟Melic说我在这里对方向感一点都没有是因为在客家话里面一般去市区都是“上”的方向词在前面，而现在我住的地方去乌节路其实在地图上是往下走，因此就弄混了，另外一个这里道路方向在左跟国内相反也是一个因素。刚才收到他的一封邮件，就在下面。另外前天还有一封主题是storytime的邮件，我还没有开始看呢：http://www.fln.vcu.edu/struwwel/bubeng.html。之所以这么快将这个内容贴出来是因为可以在my dame room上网了，不过不知道是不是临时的，刚才只是check了一下，竟然有一个可以连上（update: 事实证明，只高兴了一会，正奸商）。OK，废话不说先，请enjoy：

An interesting piece on the English language!

(1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

(2) The farm was used to produce produce.

(3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

(4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

(5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

(6) The soldier decided to desert his desert in the desert.

(7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

(8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

(9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

(10) I did not object to the object.

(11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

(12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

(13) They were too close to the door to close it.

(14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

(15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

(16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

(17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

(18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

(19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

(20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let’s face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

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Let’s look at this video first, it’s title is ‘Bank Robberry in Downtown in Los Angles’:

What I learned in this class was ‘I saw/heard somebody do/doing something’. Examples:

A1. I saw them come in. (the action completed)
A2. I heard them switch on the TV.
B1. I saw some people coming towards the house. (not the whole action, part of that)
B2. I could hear them talking in wispers.

Here is the story:

As I passed the door, I stopped. A woman was crying. I tiptoed to the door and listened. A man said, ‘Give me the keys.’ I bent down and looked through the key hole. A man was kneeling in front of an open safe. Suddenly, the woman pulled a gun from her handbang and pointed it at the man. A shot rang out, and the man fell to the floor.

What did the person see and hear? So you can tell the story to the police like this:

As I passed the door, I stopped. I heard a woman crying. I tiptoed to the door and stopped. I heard a man say, ‘Give me the keys.’ I bent down and looked through the keyhole. I saw a man kneeling in front of an open safe. Suddenly, I saw the woman pull a gun from her handbag. I saw her point it at the man. I heard a shot ring out and I saw the man fall to the floor.

Now you can use the following phrases to decribe the things what’ve happened in tee video:
rushed out/into/up…
screeched to a halt
dashed into/up/out…
drove away
puzzled
ignored
eyewitness
You already knew this robber action were not a true story, right? Maybe just a part of movie.

Beside that, there was a short practising on the ‘Emphasising the point’. I think we can use the phrass to express our feeling: enjoy, really difficult, surprised you, annoyed you.

What/The thing(that) + I enjoy/I admire/I can’t stand/I find difficult/surprise me/annoys me/fascinate me + about…/is….

Examples:

I really enjoy reading the Sunday papers in bed.
The thing I really enjoy is reading the Sunday papers in bed.
I find phasal verbs really difficult.
What I find really difficult is phrasal verbs.
In New York the shops stay open all night. That really surprised me.
The thing really surprised me about New York was that the shops open all night.
He never answered my letters — that really annoyed me.
The thing that really annoyed me is that he never answered my letters.

At last, I would like to introduce a blog which owner is Wangpei, that’s a learning english blog which name is PiEnglish.